Movie #14 - The French Connection

I must admit... I have wanted to watch this movie for many years now. Ever since I was a kid, I always heard that one of the best police movies is The French Connection. Well, it does not disappoint. This film is Gene Hackman at his best... not to forget, a cool counterpart in Roy Scheider.

Hackman and Scheider were at the top of their game in this movie. Intensity and passion were easily conveyed by both actors. This pairing of A-list actors from that era really worked... something that could be compared to the accomplishment of pairing Walken and De Niro in the Deer Hunter or Pacino and De Niro in Godfather II.

Hackman and Scheider portray New York City Narcotics officers 'Popeye' Doyle and 'Cloudy' Russo... great nicknames by the way. The plot was based on a true story of a real narcotics ring that two police officers had uncovered during the 70's which involved a french connection with smugglers from France.

The chase scenes here are incredible for the time period. This is probably a template movie for many television and movie chase scenes reminiscent of the classic film, Bullitt. I watched recently on a top movie list show that it was rumored that some of the action sequences were actually shot in real time without proper stuntmen and stuntcars.

This film was directed by one of my favourite directors... William Friedkin. Although his recent work has been total crap, his early work is inclusive of one of my favourite films of all time - The Exorcist. Friedkin won an Oscar for his efforts in this film along with Hackman for Best Actor. I would've liked to have seen Scheider win also, but he was nominated... which is great acknowledgement for his performance.

Back to my comment about the scenes. The rumour is that Friedkin mounted cameras on top of Hackman's car and along the street. He never did block off any traffic or hired stunt drivers for any of the shots. This way, the full out chase scene involving Hackman chasing after a subway car with his French sniper friend would seem more realistic on screen. Don't get me wrong, I am sure that Friedkin fixed some of those scenes, but I would not be surprised if most of that rumour is true. It did look more realistic and resulted in a great chase scene. The conclusion of that scene is probably the most recognizable shots in the film and hence, I chose it for the picture in this blog post.

Finally, I can say that I have watched the French Connection... if I ever see this movie again on television, I'll add it to the list of movies that I watch just to see one or two scenes for...

Movie #8 - The Godfather Part II

This is definitely one of the greatest, if not the greatest sequel of all time. The only other movies that you can stick in with this category of films is Star Wars: Empire Strikes Back, Terminator 2: Judgement Day, Star Trek 2: Wrath of Khan, and Lord of the Rings: Twin Towers. If anyone out there can think of a better set of sequels, then I would challenge them to find one to displace Godfather II as the best one.

Al Pacino and company are at their best here... but what makes this movie even better is the fact that Robert DeNiro has been added to the cast as the young Vito Corleone. I read an article a few years back stating that DeNiro and Pacino regret not having the opportunity to be in the same scenes together during their youth and only got that opportunity in the movie Heat.

Retrospectively, I believe if they had their chance to be in the same scenes in Godfather II as opposed to just promotional photos like this one, this movie would outweigh the importance of Godfather where Marlon Brando established his iconic status.

Godfather II seems to be on television every weekend of the year... always catch it during different times of the movie... yet however, there are two scenes that I could watch over and over again. Both are quite dramatic and both involve the character of Fredo (John Cazale). The underlying theme of Godfather II is to show the contrast between the young Vito vs. the Michael character, both as don's of their respective families at a young age. In Vito's case, although he is still a murderer in many instances, he runs his family with a sense of honour, trust, and love. Yet in Michael's case... although his intentions are just, he runs the family with a obsessive sense of control, mistrust, and greed. There are many times that show that Michael has become drunk with power and is slowly destroying his family and the relationships around him.

As a result, his entire family turns on him throughout the film... including his wife Kay and their children, his older brother Fredo, his older sister Connie, and of course the continuing conflicts with the other families such as that of the Hyman Roth clan.

Back to my favourite scenes. When Michael discovers that Fredo inadvertently betrayed Michael so that he would gain more power and respect in the syndicate operations during this pivotal scene during New Year's Eve in Havana, Michael gives his brother Fredo what is now known as the "kiss of death." The intensity of the kiss is what makes this scene great... Michael claims that Fredo broke his heart and does not let him go during this powerful embrace. Fredo tries to get away... but Michael doesn't let him go until he tells him how he truly feels... very powerful!!!

In a related scene, Michael orders his bodyguard Al Nili to execute his brother once their mother died. During her subsequent funeral, a similar embrace is made in the presence of Nili... who has the grave look of death on his face as the audience knows that he is the only one who is aware that Fredo will be dying very soon.

Overall, there are many powerful scenes in this movie that make this a great movie. It is definitely one of my favourites and quite possibly is a better movie than the first one. I know from my wife's reference from reading the novel, this movie is more in tune with how the novel plays out, as it tells about Vito's early life. However, I like how Francis Ford Coppola decided to spin this story within the trilogy, which ranks the Godfather trilogy as one of the most powerful storylines in film history... in my opinion, only second to the older Star Wars trilogy and above the Lord Of The Rings trilogy.